Spotting Destiny
by JDPhoenix
Summary: Ryan felt an odd tightening in his chest at the clichéd romance of it all. Contains various couples, but it's mostly an excuse for Ryelsi.


Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Disney. The story itself it property of JDPhoenix. No infringement is intended and no gain (monetary or otherwise) results from this work.

AN: This is all PRUnited's fault. The forum has recently taken up the topic of HSM and the bunnies are running wild. This is my response.

**Spotting Destiny**

by JDPhoenix

It was easy, so mind-numbingly easy that Ryan almost laughed when he saw his sister swooning over whichever cute overachiever walked by. Of course Sharpay was going to end up with Zeke -- maybe not in the something borrowed, something blue sense of the phrase, but those overachievers couldn't make the diva sigh the way Zeke did and that had her running back to him every time.

The fiasco with Troy Bolton last summer was proof enough of that. When Gabriella had shown up as the club's new lifeguard Sharpay had huffed and stomped her feet and whined all summer long. Then one day, after her plans for Troy had failed, Sharpay saw Zeke walking one of the club's more secluded paths with Martha. It was one of the only times Ryan had actually seen his strong tower of a sister cry. He figured that was how he'd ended up with Martha. Some deep brotherly instinct had risen up to demand that he help. Why he had to help by asking out a girl he didn't really have any interest in was beyond him and he was thankful when Martha dumped him the week before school began.

"Do they have to do that?" Sharpay snapped, pulling Ryan out of his reverie.

He followed her gaze and saw Troy and Gabriella sitting at their usual table. They smiled and giggled and made even Ryan, the die-hard romantic who actually liked the chick-flicks his sister dragged him to -- though he would die before he admitted it to anyone, especially Chad or Troy -- made _him_ want to puke and watch wrestling. There was no reason to even consider Troy and Gabriella, from the moment they'd met neither had eyes for anyone else.

As Sharpay began her traditional Troy and Gabriella rant, Ryan looked at the couple sharing the table with the eternal lovebirds. Chad and Taylor were something different. Where Troy and Gabriella had love at first sight and a mutual preoccupation with music on their side, Chad and Taylor had -- Ryan tilted his head to the side, considering the two. They were currently debating rather loudly, though Ryan couldn't make out what the problem was. There was a great deal of arm waving and the only pauses in noise came when Taylor gasped as if affronted before throwing some sort of barb back at Chad. Ryan supposed this was what the two had in common. While Chad was entirely dedicated to sports and Taylor was the ultimate science geek/control freak the two could meet in the realm of obsession itself. They loved challenge and their relationship might just be the biggest one of their lives. And, Ryan mused as Chad grabbed Taylor by the shoulders, pulled her to her feet, and dipped her back into a passionate kiss, they certainly had heat.

The lunch room erupted into applause. Even Sharpay was smiling at the display and someone began whoo-whoo-whoo-whooing as Ms. Darbus dragged the blushing Taylor and triumphant Chad to the principal's office. Ryan's smile fell as he saw the source of the whoos: Jason. He had just gotten his tray and, when the commotion died down, began making his way across the room. Ryan's eyes darted to the table at the bottom of the stairs. There sat Kelsi, hunched over sheet music, making adjustments as she listened to the bare bones of her newest composition through her earbuds.

As if she could sense him coming Kelsi's head came up and Ryan felt an odd tightening in his chest at the clichéd romance of it all.

"You're not fooling anyone," Sharpay said in a sing-song voice.

"What?" Ryan asked, eager to pull himself away from the spectacle.

She smiled, dipping her head so she could look up at him through her lashes. It was her most condescending expression and one she'd perfected when they were still very young. Ryan hated it.

"You know what," she said, releasing him from her gaze and taking in the entire cafeteria like a queen on her throne. "You sit up here, looking at all of them -- all of _us_ -- as if you can see it all. You think you can see where everyone is meant to be, but you can't even see yourself."

"That -- made absolutely no sense," Ryan said slowly.

Sharpay leaned gracefully across the table and beckoned him close. "Just because you don't have a diary," she whispered in his ear, "don't think I can't read _you_." Then, with a jaunty flip to her voice, added, "You're in love with Kelsi."

Ryan pulled back so suddenly that he fell out of his chair. He ignored the concerned looks from surrounding tables, keeping wide eyes on his sister. From his expression anyone would have thought Sharpay had grown a horn.

"I am not --" Ryan gasped out, pulling himself to his feet.

Sharpay held up a hand. "Don't. Not until you actually do something useful about it."

Ryan plopped down in his seat with a huff, then realized that he was acting like his sister and sat up straighter. With a last glare at her for good measure he turned back to the cafeteria at large. His eyes immediately settled on Kelsi and he told himself it was just because of Sharpay's stupid idea. Then, like a bolt of lightning, something occurred to him.

"Where's Jason?" he asked. Kelsi was in fact sitting alone, just as she had been when Ryan first saw her.

Sharpay nodded towards Troy's table, where Jason was sitting.

"But --"

Sharpay sighed. "They broke up last week. Don't tell me you haven't noticed Kelsi's bad mood. Oh," she laughed, "I know, you've been too absorbed in your own bad mood to notice hers."

"Says the queen of egocentrism."

Sharpay was silent for a moment. "What?"

"It means you're self-centered."

"Well, duh!" She stood and grabbed her tray. "Just, promise me you'll do something before Jason realizes what an idiot he is. I don't want the only good musician in this school abandoning the drama club so she can go to basketball games." She sauntered away, leaving Ryan alone with his thoughts.

Sharpay was right -- for once. Jason was baseball and basketball. Kelsi was music, pure and sweet and never simple.

Ryan started slowly down the stairs, wondering if she needed any help adding lyrics to her newest masterpiece.

* * *

_AN: There's no chapter 2 coming so you probably shouldn't save your review for then._


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